David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 126: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he will outline the work of the Family Support Agency; the voluntary organisations that received counselling grants from the agency for each year since the agency was established; the amounts granted to each of these organisations; his plan to further strengthen and widen the work of the Family Support Agency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12213/08]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The Family Support Agency was established on 6 May 2003 by the then Minister for Social and Family Affairs and brings together programmes and services to support families introduced by the Government in recent years. Its mission is to promote family and community well being through the provision of appropriate supports and services to families. Funding for the Agency has increased from €17.28 million in 2003 to €39.38 million for 2008.The main functions of the Agency include:

The scheme of grants to voluntary organisations providing marriage, child and bereavement counselling and related services

The Family and Community Services Resource Centre (FRC) Programme

The Family Mediation Service

The number of voluntary organisations that have received counselling grants from the Family Support Agency has increased from 473 in 2003 to 561 in 2007, with total funding increasing from €6.7 million in 2003 to €9.9 million in 2007. Details of the individual organisations funded will be made available to the Deputy.

For the current year, over 600 applications for funding have been received by the Agency. 2008 will also be the first year where groups in receipt of more than €60,000 per annum will be eligible to receive multi-annual funding, thus giving large groups the opportunity to make more long-term plans to develop the invaluable service that they provide to thousands of people across the country.

The FRC programme, which currently supports 106 Centres, will also be expanded over the duration of the current National Development Plan. In addition, funding has been allocated for an additional worker in 100 Family Resource Centres between 2007 and 2013.

The Family Mediation Service has expanded to 16 centres nationwide with another centre being operated on a pilot basis. There are four full-time offices in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway with part-time offices situated in Athlone, Blanchardstown, Castlebar, Dundalk, Letterkenny, Marino, Portlaoise, Sligo, Tallaght, Tralee, Waterford and Wexford, as well as the pilot office in Ballymun.